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As revealed in one of the Cafe items in the recent weeks, the   Central Environmental Authority (CEA) Chairman Siripala Amarasinghe and his son came under investigation for their alleged involvement in constructing a hotel within the range of the Knuckles world heritage site.

Following these reports, the Environment Ministry appointed a committee to probe the allegations against the Chairman and his son, and it handed over the report this week.

The matter was raised in Parliament also when Parliamentarian Wasantha Yapa Bandara alleged in addition to the ongoing commercial property development project within the Knuckles region, the father-son duo were also involved in a similar project in the Katukithula ela area near the Moragahakanda reservoir.

The end result–Chairman Siripala Amarasinghe was sacked with immediate effect and Supun S. Pathirage was appointed as the new CEA Chairperson by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday.

Clash in the bathroom; Council chairman and staffer end up in hospital

A clash between a local government politico and a health inspector inside a newly built toilet complex in Kelaniya resulted in both of them being hospitalised within days of
each other.

The Peliyagoda Urban Council Chairman K. D. Ananda, who faced an unfortunate ordeal last week, said he went on a fact-finding mission following a tip-off that a particular staffer who was residing near the complex rigged a wire to supply power from the complex to his  residence.

Last week, the Chairman made a surprise visit around 9.30 p.m. to the complex and witnessed the staffer removing wire and a heated argument followed thereafter. This turned into a violent clash. The building complex built at the expense of Rs. 800,000 was scheduled to
be declared open in the
coming weeks.

Mr Ananda was admitted to the National Hospital with head injuries and the next day he took part in the council meeting with a bandage on his head. The council was informed of the temporary interdiction of the staffer until further notice.

However, days later, a group of locals assaulted the staffer in the middle of road, and he too was admitted to the National Hospital, just like what happened to the Chairman.

Public sector employees face ‘no pay’ problem

Even though public sector employees have been assured there will be no delay in paying their monthly salaries, those in the respective accounts departments know how bad the situation is.

The Finance and Payments Director of the North Western Province Chief Secretary’s office last week sent out a circular to all departments, secretaries and other officials in the province cautioning them that the Finance Ministry was facing difficulties in making salary payments on the due date.

Therefore, they have been advised to make sure that the Treasury has sent the money to the banks, before they release the cheques.

Inadequate funds to ensure food security in Sri Lanka

The consequences of a collapsed economy are becoming more evident every day whenever top State officials go before the Parliament’s Oversight Committees in recent times. The latest is the Food Commissioner’s Department’s senior officers who testified before the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) this week.

As the questions were focused on the country’s food security concerns, the officials revealed to the committee that there had been a dearth of funds from the Treasury to keep buffer stocks in government stores, and they were facing immense difficulties to ensure the food security of Sri Lanka.

The committee was told that annually the Treasury allocated Rs 22 billion for the total expenses of the department, but the cash-strapped Government was struggling to secure adequate financing.

It looks like a similar situation prevails in most state institutions as the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation officials said this week that a crude oil shipment had been anchored near the Colombo port for more than a month–waiting for payment clearance before unloading the fuel, while the state run Sapuskanda crude oil refinery remains closed.

Commitee to check UL appointing married women as air hostesses

In the land of paradise, it has become a norm to appoint committees to investigate corruption and clear corruption charges or just appoint a random committee following any such controversy to cool things down or bury the issue as months go by.

After a couple of months, nobody would probably remember the issue, as people come to face fresh issues on a daily basis and come across new controversies fuelled by agenda driven political PR campaigns.

One such committee was proposed by none other than Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva when an Opposition MP brought to the attention of the House reports which suggest that some married women have joined the national carrier as air stewardesses despite one of the requirements is being unmarried.

Is that a pressing issue worthwhile to appoint a committee to probe? The minister thinks so, and he suggested to the Opposition MP that he is ready to appoint a committee to look into such allegations if they can produce credible documents to support the charge.

Killing of pet dog puts State Minister in the dog house

Plantation Industries State Minister Lohan Ratwatte who was in Jaffna last week made some moves that did not go well with the people of the area. One such incident was the shooting of a pet dog in Vadamarachchi by the State Minister’s ministerial security officials who claimed it tried to attack the State Minister, and therefore had to be shot dead.

Agitated by the incident, a group of animal activists gathered unofficially to discuss the possibilities of pursuing legal actions and also a protest was held against the incident this week, saying it was “inhuman and uncivilised behaviour”.

One of the activists recalled the recent history of the State Minister, who not so long ago was involved in a controversial incident where he was accused of entering the Anuradhapura Prison in the middle of the night with his friends and was reported to have threatened detainees by shooting at them when he was State Minister in charge of Prisons and Prisons reforms in the last Cabinet.

A committee that was appointed to probe the incident cleared him of any wrongdoing last September, and he assumed duties as a State Minister.

Former President’s Secretary gets a Light House reception

It has hardly been a few months since former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Secretary Gamini Senarath stepped down from office. A felicitation ceremony has now been organised by the Secretaries of Cabinet Ministers for Mr Senarath.

Invitations have gone out saying the ceremony has been organised in honour of the “remarkable service of the former secretary”. The Light House Galley has been chosen for the event on October 27.